Sucker rod guides



June 1, 1965 H. HARRIS ETAL 3,186,773

SUCKER ROD GUIDES Filed Feb. 26, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 GLEN H. HARRIS DONALD E. SABLE INVENTQRS BYW A T TORNE Y G. H. HARRIS ETAL SUCKER ROD GUIDES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 26, 1963 FIG. IX.

ill |l f FIG. V/ll.

GLEN H. HARRIS DONALD E. SABLE INVENTORS A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,186,773 SUCKER R01) GUIDES Glen E. Harris, 1309 N. Fielder, Arlington, Term, and Donald E. Sable, 4413 Windsor, Dallas, Tex. Filed Feb. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 261,016 3 Claims. ($1. 3ii84) 'This invention relates to a'sucker rod guide which is particularly adapted to center a string of reciprocating sucker rods used in activating a pump located on the conventional tubing in a well bore.

It is well understood that wells are not as a general rule straight or vertical, but may be inclined or even spiral so that the flexible rod string extending into the well is inclined to rub against the tubing through which the oil is being pumped. In order to guide the rods and avoid Wearon both tubing and rods, suitable guides are mounted to the metal rods whereby the latte-r are disposed centrally of the tubing while at the same time allowing for the flow of oil past the guides.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a sucker rod guide which includes a non-abrasive wearing surface of a rubber like oil resistant material which is so grooved and slotted that it can be tilted laterally of the rod, applied thereto and then turned to a position concentric with and embracing the rod. Spring metal clips are enclosed in the end sections of the guide whereby to secure the guide from dislodgement from or migration along the rod.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rubber like rod guide having auxiliary gripping means adjacent its end sections and a cross slot adjacent its middle section which joins the diametrically opposed rod passing slots, one of which is at each end of the guide.

We are aware of many attempts heretofore made to provide a rod guide readily installable upon the rod and secured against dislodgement therefrom, all of which are possessed of defects and limitations which our novel guide structure overcomes. Among prior rod guide patents Gillespie No. 2,436,994 provides a guide adapted to mounting on the rod only adjacent its ends and depending for lateral security thereto upon its embracing the upset end and the wrenching squares of the rod wherefrom it is frequently dislodged by the manipulators of the joining elforts and dropped into the well bore. Moreover this end mounting of the guide leaves the entire balance of the rod span unprotected and unprotectable by such guide structure. Ward No. 2,604,364 and Bowerman No. 3,001,834 show homogenous guides embracing a single red griping means with a single slot for receiving the rods disposed axially of the guide. Such guides are readily dislodged from the rods by a blow or pressure exerted in a single radial direction and moreover do not cover the entire surface of the tubing as the pump is stroked, as does the guide of the present invention.

Our guide provides novel features which will be readily understood from the following description together with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE I is an elevation partly in section of our guide;

FIGURE II is an elevation of our guide taken at a 90 degree angle from FIGURE I and mounted on a sucker rod;

FIGURE III is an elevation of our guide at 180 degrees from that shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 1V is an end perspective of our guide;

FIGURE V is a section along line 5--'5 of FIGURE I-II;

FIGURE VI is a perspective of a preferred form of spring clips in our guide;

FIGURE VII is another form of the clip;

FIGURE VIII is an elevation of our guide showing a cross section of rod received by the transverse slot in the guide;

FIGURE IX is a side view of the guide and rod of FIGURE VII-I;

FIGURE X shows position of the guide as it is rotated about its axis;

FIGURE XI is an elevation, partly in section, of the relation of the parts inside a tubing;

FIGURE XII is a section of our guide with modified clip in which voids in the rubber have been punctured from the exterior of the guide.

In the several views like elements are indicated by similar references, in which, 15 is 'a rubber like oil resistant guide body having parallel oppositely disposed rod receiving slots 16 therein connected by transverse slot 17 and embracing C shaped rod gripping elements 1 8 and having rod receiving opening 19 therethrough. It will be noted as in FIGURE VI the rod gripping elements 18- 18 may be plural in number and separately embedded in the rubber like body 15 of the guide while as shown at 18a-18a in FIGURE VII the gripping elements 1% are joined by a rib-like connecting member 18b. 20 is a sucker r-od while 21 is the tubing. -A section of a guide 15 shown in FIGURE XII has voids 22 therein which .have been punctured as at 23, from the surface of body 15 to a depth, preferably less than the thickness of the rubber embracing elements 18, for purposes more clear- 'ly to be set out later herein.

In FIGURES V, VI, and VII the rod gripping elements are shown as having termini 24 extending radially of opening 19, and while such form may facilitate the passage of the rod 20 into opening 19, other forms of elements Iii-18a may be employed such as shown in FIGURE XII.

The operation is as follows: A quantity of oil resistant elastic material is placed about the gripping elements and bonded thereto by conventional molding processes well known in the rubber manufacturing art. It being essential to have the mold so constructed as to attain the desired form of the finished guide upon completion of the molding operation. Since voids are likely and frequently do occur in rubber guide bodies while being manufactured it is desirable to provide escape therefrom of entrapped hydrocarbons which may gain entry thereinto by reason of the high pressure in wells. The elastic element coats the rod gripping rigid element and thereby protects the latter from elements present in well fluids which attack the gripping elements which preferably are made from spring metal.

The guide is now brought into assembly with the rod by passing the transverse slot 15 into position on rod 20 as in FIGURE VIII, then rotated about its axis as shown in FIGURES 9 and 10 through slots 16 to a position in central opening 19 of the guide, in which position it obviously may be dislodged by reversing the action which cannot occur while the guide and rod assembly remain in position in the tubing as illustrated in FIGURE XI. Should pressure be applied at one end of the guide axially of slot 19 in a direction tending to remove the guide as by rotation about the rod while in the tubing a similar pressure would occur at the opposite end of the guide tending to seat it more securely on the rod. The elastic body of the guide will freely permit the passage of well fluids through slots 16 and transverse slot 17 while the guide provides at all times a full circumferential bearing contact with the tubing and preferably is of greater diameter than the rod couplings. The rod gripping elements are of such dimensions that when rod 20 is received in central opening 19 a firm and secure grip is maintained upon the rod. This permits of mounting guides on the rods spaced as desired at any point be- 'tween' the upsets at the rod ends, which elective spacing 'of friction drag against the tubingand aids'greatly in minimizing wear, corrosion, and destructive electrical forces which so frequently are present or occur in pumping wells. The guides obviously may be so spaced -on 5 the rods as to cause an overlapping of their contacts with the tubing when the rod string is reciprocate'd as' the pump is stroked.

The use of multiple spring steel-clips, or other-suitable -rod gripping elements18provides an optimum-security of'the guide upon the rod since they are so'disposed of the rod that forces which mightfi-acture, unseat or destroy one of these elements would normallybe operating from an opposed direction upon the other. 7

Guides mounted on the rod string may be bumped against the receiving end of the tubing string as'the rods are lowered thereinto whereby the guide may be moved or migrated along the rod, or such migratingtendency may occur when guides are passingtubing couplings or obstructions in' the tubing. 'Our rib orconnec'ting member 18]) transfers or distributes such shocks uniformly to the multiple gripping elements thus maihtaining consistently the length of'the composite guide member.

Other novel features and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art and all such are intended to be included in the following claims.

What we claim is:

1.A guide'for use on a sucker rod comprising:

(a) a substantially cylindrical body of elastomeric material having an axial bore therethrongh for receiving said sucker rod;

(b) said body having a transverse slot through its side near its center intersecting said bore and dividing the body into opposed halves joined by the continuous side: of the body opposite said slot;

(c) said body having a longitudinal slot through its side in each of said opposed halves, these slots opening into 'ther'transverse slot, and each opening into the bore respectively on substantially opposite sides of the body; and V (d) spring-material rod-gripping means comprising a one piece member more rigid than the body and having'ateach end oppositely 'facingC-shaped 'clips joined together by a connecting member which is so located with respect to' the clips that when the latter are embedded int-the body concentric with its axis with the openings in the C-shaped clips regis- '-tering=respectively with the longitudinal slotsjthe connecting member willlie along said continuous side.

2., In a guide asset forth-in'claim 1,-said body having mutually spaced narrow slits punctured into the elastomeric material to 'vent voids therewithin.

3. In a guide asset forth in claim 2, said slitsextending deeply into the elastomeric material but short of said rod-gripping-means.

References Cited-by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,604,364 7/52 Ward 308-4 2,928,472 3/60 Tripplehorn l66-176 3,001,834 '9/61 Bowerman 308-4 FRANK SUSKO, Prima'ry Examiner. ROBERT c. 'RIORDON, Examiner. 

1. A GUIDE FOR USE ON A SUCKER ROD COMPRISING: (A) A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL BODY OF ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL HAVING AN AXIAL BORE THERETHROUGH FOR RECEIVING SAID SUCKER ROD; (B) SAID BODY HAVING A TRANSVERSE SLOT THROUGH ITS SIDE NEAR ITS CENTER INTERSECTING SAID BORE AND DIVIDING THE BODY INTO OPPOSED HALVES JOINED BY THE CONTINUOUS SIDE OF THE BODY OPPOSITE SAID SLOT; 